According to a report from the National Bureau of Statistics on October 27, Yu Weining, a statistician from the Bureau’s Industrial Division, provided an analysis of industrial enterprise profit data. He noted that for the first nine months of this year, profits for large-scale industrial enterprises have decreased year-on-year, although high-tech manufacturing sectors are demonstrating resilience.
Despite facing various challenges, the total profit for large-scale industrial enterprises reached over 5 trillion yuan from January to September, reflecting a decline of 3.5% year-on-year. Key factors contributing to this downturn include insufficient demand, falling industrial prices, and a high comparison base from last year that has intensified since August. Notably, while profits increased by 575.4 billion yuan compared to January-August, several elements have been putting pressure on profit margins: Firstly, industrial product prices have remained depressed, leading to severe pressures on revenue and profit; Secondly, revenue for large-scale industrial companies grew by only 2.1%, a slowdown compared to earlier months; And finally, rising costs outpaced revenue growth, negatively impacting profit margins.
On a positive note, high-tech manufacturing has shown remarkable resilience. From January to September, profits in this sector grew by 6.3%, outperforming the overall average for large-scale industries by 9.8 percentage points, contributing to a 1.1 percentage point increase in industry-wide profits. Profits in high-end equipment manufacturing sectors, such as spacecraft and launch vehicles, climbed by 17.1% and 13.2%, respectively. Additionally, smart manufacturing areas like intelligent vehicle devices and wearable technology saw profit increases of 27.5% and 25.6%, while green manufacturing sectors like lithium-ion battery production reported a staggering 58.8% growth.
Meanwhile, consumer goods industries experienced stable profit growth. With solid efforts across regions and sectors to implement demand-expanding and consumption-promoting policies, and with stability in international market demands, some consumer goods sectors recorded robust growth. From January to September, profits in textiles, furniture, and agricultural products grew by 11.5%, 11.0%, and 6.6%, respectively. Overall, the profit for the consumer goods manufacturing industry increased by 2.4%, outpacing the industrial average by 5.9 percentage points, which helped boost overall industrial profits by 0.5 percentage points.
In summary, while profits in large-scale industrial enterprises have declined, new momentum in the industry is becoming evident. As industrial firms stabilize their expectations and confidence grows, there is hope for a recovery in profitability. Moving forward, it’s essential to thoroughly implement the directives from the Central Government and bolster existing policies while introducing new measures to create a favorable environment for the healthy development of industrial enterprises, ultimately supporting a rebound in profits.
